The present invention relates both to a device for fixing an accessory, in particular a motor vehicle positioning sensor, and to a bodywork part fitted with such a device.
It is known that a positioning sensor a device which is commonly mounted on the bumper(s) of a motor vehicle and which serves to inform the driver of the distance between the bumper(s) and any obstacle situated in front of or behind the vehicle.
Such devices are particularly useful when performing parking maneuvers, and the information is generally supplied to the driver in the form of an intermittent sound signal in which the beeps become closer together with shortening distance between the bumper and the obstacle.
The sensor is situated on the inside of the bodywork part, in register with an orifice formed through said bodywork part.
The sensitive zone, in which obstacles in the vicinity can be detected, extends outwards from the vehicle and its detection field is left clear by the orifice formed in said bodywork part.
In terms of operation, such devices are entirely satisfactory.
However, the way they are mounted on bumpers or, in some vehicles on other bodywork parts, makes them inaccessible from the outside of the vehicle unless the entire bodywork part is dismantled.
In other words, a positioning sensor is mounted and fixed from the inside of the bodywork part, and once said part is in position on the vehicle it is no longer possible to gain access to the fixing members of the sensor in order to dismantle it, e.g. to replace it in the event of a breakdown.
The present invention seeks to provide a novel device for fixing an accessory, in particular a positioning sensor, which enables it to be dismantled from outside the vehicle, without it being necessary to dismantle the bodywork part that supports it.
The present invention provides a device for fixing an accessory such as a positioning sensor to a bodywork part of a motor vehicle, said accessory being found on the side of the bodywork part that faces towards the inside of the vehicle and in register with an orifice made through said bodywork part, the device comprising a jacket suitable for containing the accessory, and a support suitable for being secured to the bodywork part on the side of said bodywork part that faces towards the inside of the vehicle, the jacket containing the accessory being suitable for being received inside the support by being inserted from the outside of the vehicle through the orifice formed in the bodywork part, said jacket containing the accessory also being suitable for being withdrawn from the support from the outside of the vehicle by being extracted through the orifice formed in the bodywork part.
In other words, the present invention consists in interposing a mechanism between the accessory and the bodywork part, which mechanism is organized to allow the accessory to be inserted and extracted from outside the vehicle.
The accessory in question can be constituted by a positioning sensor, however the invention is not limited to that type of electrical accessory, and it applies, for example, to fixing other types of sensor to the vehicle, or indeed an antenna, for example.
In a particular embodiment of the invention, the jacket has at least one passage in its thickness enabling an extractor tool to be inserted from the outside of the vehicle, said tool making it possible via the orifice for the jacket containing the accessory to be released or withdrawn from the support secured to the bodywork part.
In a particular embodiment of the invention, the support or the jacket includes locking means for locking the jacket when inserted in the support.
This locking means is accessible from the outside of the vehicle by a tool passing through the passage formed in the thickness of the jacket.
In a preferred variant of this embodiment, the support or the jacket further includes a resilient member which urges the jacket out from the vehicle when said jacket is inserted in the support, such that releasing the locking member causes the jacket to be expelled at least in part from the support to the outside of the vehicle, thereby enabling it to be grasped and extracted completely from the support.
In another variant, the tool which penetrates through the passage formed in the thickness of the jacket bear against an abutment of the jacket and enables the jacket to be extracted by applying traction directed towards the outside of the vehicle.
For example, the tool can be engaged to extend beyond the inside end of the jacket and can bear against the end thereof or against the accessory itself, such that traction exerted on the tool then gives rise to thrust on the jacket or the accessory.
The present invention also provides a bodywork part, in particular a bumper, provided with a device for fixing an accessory as described above.